I apologize for not updating last week. The long weekend threw me off and before I knew it, this week was already over! It feels like January went on for forever, but I can't believe we are already in the last weeks of February! Even with a short week, this week we were working on A LOT of different things! Read below to find out what we have been up to :)
Things To Note:
Have a wonderful weekend!
- I/E: As we continue reading "Holes," we continue to learn more details about each character and their attributes. With that knowledge, students read up until chapter 20 this week, where they then were to create an "I-Poem." This I-Poem needed to be about a specific character in the book. The poem was to be written from that character's perspective. Students were given an outline of how the poem should be set up and different sentence starters. Overall, they did a great job on these! It's a great skill for students to be able to read a text, gather information and then be able to put themselves into the position of a character within the text.
- ELA:
- Testing: This week we have our Unit 3 ELA Assessment. This assessment is broken down into three components: comprehension, grammar and writing. It is a difficult test for students, so I am always proud of their efforts and ability to remain focused during this time. With that said, take their comprehension grades with a "grain of salt." There are always things we can work on to do better in the future of course, but some of it just takes time with age development and test taking skills. On the grammar assessment they are able to their ELA notebook where we take notes, in addition to the study guide they have in there. The writing piece this unit was an opinion essay, so students needed to state their opinion on the given prompt and give supporting reasons and details for their opinion. These grades will go in sometime next week.
- Math: We started our new topic 6, "Dividing Decimals." This week, we focused on using our knowledge of division and the power of 10. For example, in the problem 345.3 divided by 10, we know that if I divide by a power of 10, I am moving the decimal over one spot. With division, our quotient is getting smaller than our dividend, therefore we would move the decimal in 345.3 over one to the left to give us a quotient of 34.53. We also focused on being able to estimate using rounding and compatible numbers. We do this to identify a basic fact we do know, and from there we can then be able to tell what our actual answer should be around.
- Social Studies: As we continue into Chapter 4 about the colonies, this week we focused on slavery in the colonies. We learned that slaves in the North and South had different roles and that slavery in the South was much more labor intensive than in North due to work on the plantations. We will continue learning more about life in the colonies next week in our last lesson of this chapter. The test for Chapter 4 will be on Tuesday, March 5th.
- Science: This week we focused on "Ecosystems" and how invasive species can both positively and negatively affect an ecosystem. Students worked in partners to create a "wanted" poster about a specific invasive species that is in Illinois. They included the species, type, reward and what they are wanted for (aka what damage they are causing). It was a great way for students to see how invasive species can affect a place we call home!
Things To Note:
- There will be an early dismissal on Thursday, March 7th due to Parent Teacher Conferences. I have already reached out to parents that I would like to meet with. If you were not contacted, but would still like to meet, please reach out via email as soon as possible so we can schedule a time.
- No School on Friday, March 8th
Have a wonderful weekend!